The Ghost of the Fantome

Written for their local newspaper in South Bend, Indiana

by Robin Toepp

If I close my eyes I can still feel the gentle rocking of the ship as I lay in bed at night. My husband and I shared a cozy bunk in a small cabin. On one wall were two small portholes that were given lovely floral fabric curtains. If you looked out the window of the porthole you could see the rise and fall of the Caribbean Sea as the ship sailed. We had a small wood closet and a neat bathroom with a showerhead just above the commode and sink. They had to put the roll of toilet paper up high to avoid getting wet which also made it a bit tricky to reach in times of need. The whole room was only about seven feet from head to toe and five feet from front to back but was cozy for us honeymooners.

I have been thinking about that room a lot the past few weeks. Actually, remembering the cabin is just one of many memories I have lately ever since I found out the Fantome was lost at sea during Hurricane Mitch. I can remember sitting with our travel agent months before our trip trying to decide which boat of the Windjammer fleet we would like to sail. We knew we wanted something romantic and a little more adventurous than an oversized impersonal cruise liner and that’s what lured us about these tall-masted ships. Our choices at the time were the S/V Yankee Clipper, S/V Polynesia, S/V Mandalay, and the S/V Flying Cloud. But it was the 282-foot S/V Fantome that we decided to board. She is essentially the Windjammer’s flagship, carrying over 170 passengers and crew creating a majestic presence at sea. The boat itself has a majestic history. It was built in 1927 for the Duke of Westminster. The Guiness Brewing family later owned it, and Aristotle Onassis eventually purchased her as a wedding gift for Princess Grace and Prince Rainier. Onnassis, however, never gave them the ship because he was not invited to the wedding. In 1969, the Fantome joined the Windjammer fleet and was recently given a $6 million refurbishment.

If you are considering a sea faring adventure and are looking for something a little more daring, this kind of trip is definitely worth your while. When you first board you are escorted to the snacks and rum swizzles area which is very important because by the time you reach the vessel you have had a long flight which most likely required a connection in a larger city. You’ve also had to change planes in Puerto Rican airport as well as go through customs on one of the Caribbean islands that contains the home port of your selected sailed vessel. At the time, the Fantome was docked in port in Antigua. But the company had since changed its course to the Yucatan Peninsula and eventually on to the tropical reef area close to Belize and Honduras.

After checking in and going through paper work, we had time to wander the boat and get aquainted with other passengers who were, by now, all barefoot. The Fantome had a large upper deck that was a well-maintained smooth wood. Some of the crew could always be seen at some point sanding and refinishing parts of the wood all around the boat because of the constant salt water punishment the vessel took while sailing around the Caribbean. The top deck had a horseshoe shaped large wood bar that was kept under a canvas tent. There were four tall masts all with tremendous booms, which had great lengths of rope, neatly coiled and stowed until it was time to release the sails.

When the boat set sail I found myself unlocking my knees so they would give as the boat swayed from side to side in the water. I believe the term is “sea legs,” which to my surprise, I found fairly quickly. We received a safety lesson and lifejackets to stow in our cabins. Plus there were extra life jackets located all around the boat in benches and cubbyholes.

After that, the boat was ours. We could help raise the sails when the crew was called to task, or we could watch how effortlessly these folks worked the ship while we stood back sipping our rum swizzles. Our only assignment for the week was to relax and enjoy all the Caribbean had to offer: wind in our hair, beautiful sunsets, snorkeling and fishing, and touring quaint towns along the way. We stopped at the Island of St. Bartholemy (St. Barts’ to the locals) where it is rumored Mick Jagger owns a home and other stars like Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown vacationed just a week before our arrival. It is a French owned island complete with wonderful wine shops, cafes and nude beaches. Our assignment that day was for every passenger to bring back a bottle of wine for a wine and cheese tasting we were hosting for the folks of the S/V Polynesia whom we met up with that day. We sailed on to St. Kitts and Nevis, took the dinghy’s to town to wander the streets, visit the fruit markets, and go for a tropical rainforest tour inland. It was everything my husband and I could have hoped for in a honeymoon. Oh yea, did I forget to mention or trip was delayed by a few days because of Hurricane Bertha?

On route to Antigua our flight out of Puerto Rico was cancelled because of the approaching hurricane which was nothing of the strength of Mitch. So we found a hotel and waited out the storm. During that hurricane, we later found out the captain sailed the Fantome out of the path of the storm. When it passed, he sailed back to Antigua to resume our trip. I have been thinking about this over the past few weeks because I have read reports that this is the same tactic this captain tried. Only this time is didn’t work. He had few choices and each direction he took the boat, the hurricane seemed to follow until Mitch finally got the better of the vessel sending battering of winds and 40 foot swells against the boat.

I think about the 31 crew lost at sea. I wonder if they are the same people that were on during our trip two years ago. They were all so friendly, always doing so much to make us happy. I remember the little details like walking up the stairs from our cabin below the second deck. It was not uncommon to find crew members polishing the brass rails, or wiping seawater from the deck outside the galley so passengers wouldn’t slip. If you felt sea sick, they would bring you a glass of water or help you down the stairs. And they would always flash a big toothy smile saying ‘Good Mornin’ Mon!’ They really loved their work, and we loved them for it for we knew many of them had families that they rarely got to see. And while all that was two years ago the adventure still feels like it was yesterday. Now, as I sit looking through my photo album, remembering everything about that vacation, I also feel sorrow for the victims who perished in the storm and for the families who have lost their loved ones and I think now the Fantome really is a ghost.